Jacob

My mom is amazingly spiritual. She always knows what is best for her family. She knew that I needed to be born even though Sarah had just been born. She also knew that our family wasn't complete even though she was done having children. We started doing foster care so we could fill the hole in our family. The whole process was a miracle. I don't know all the details, if you want to know, ask my mom. But when we first met little 4 year old Jacob, it just felt right. He fit in perfectly with our family. We ended up adopting him into our family. I don't remember much about it because I was only 5 or 6, but I do remember the first time we had Jacob at our house. My parents were telling him about our rules and asking him what rules he knew of. He said, "Don't eat yellow snow!" Oh, how I love Jacob! Look how cute he is!

As with every family, we aren't perfect. Jacob and I fought occasionally, but I always loved him. The reason I'm writing this post is because I really miss my little brother. He is currently serving a mission in Peru. It's funny how you never appreciate something until it's gone. One of my biggest regrets in life is that I didn't spend enough time with Jacob. Growing up, I saw him as a nuisance, the annoying little brother. I never really wanted him to hang out with me and my friends. After I graduated from high school, I started to become good friends with him. I realized what I had been missing out on. I wish I could take back the mean things I said and did. I am so lucky to have him as my brother, really I am. It's a miracle that we found him and adopted him. He is amazing. And how you ever be mad at a face like this?

Jacob is one the most hard working people I know. He is also one of the nicest people I know. Sometimes he doesn't have sensitivity in what he's saying, but he wouldn't intentionally be rude to someone. I loved to play games with him, and I always won. Especially Stratego. I always beat him at that (that's because he never had a strategy, he just put pieces down randomly). I loved playing legos with him. He was much better at building with them than I was and always admired his creativity. In high school, Jacob started developing his artistic talent. I love his paintings. They are so unique and so him. My favorite one is actually his least favorite one. I think he is a great artist. 

The time I started getting closest to Jacob was right before I went on my mission. He was going to leave on his a few months after I did. I thought that I would serve an 18 month mission after, so I didn't expect to see him for 3 years. When you know you're not going to see someone for a while, you start spending more time with them. I never expected to get married while he was gone, but it happened. I emailed him one day and told him I had a boyfriend. He totally freaked out. The next week I told him I was engaged. Poor kid, he probably didn't believe me at first. I wish he could have been at my wedding, but he is where he needs to be. Here's Jacob getting his mission call.

I am so incredibly proud of him. He's always had trouble focusing and I was worried when he was called to a Spanish speaking mission. He really struggled with Spanish in high school. But Jacob is an amazing missionary. He is doing so well. He has had lots of trials, but he is handling them so well. 

Although Jacob may have been annoying sometimes, he is my only little brother and I will be forever grateful for him. I am amazed to see what a wonderful person he has become and I know he's only going to get better. I miss my brother. I love you Jakey-Poo!